Journalism watchdog Jack Shafer reviewed the inaugural edition of The Wall Street Journal‘s new standalone book review section.

Earlier this month, we linked to a Media Matters report that studied the newspaper’s record of disclosure when reviewing titles from HarperCollins, Fox News affiliates, or other News Corp.-related parties.

Here’s an excerpt, and we’ve added some hyperlinks to help you explore: “‘Review’ has recruited name-brand writers for its first issue. There’s Kwame Anthony Appiah on how to deal with ‘honor killers,’ James Grant on what a terrible economist John Kenneth Galbraith was, a Matt Ridley column on the science of human nature, a Gregg Easterbrook book review, a humor column by Joe Queenan, a “Commerce & Culture” column by Virginia Postrel, and a lead essay about geniuses and tinkering by Steven Johnson. Often, the big names brought in to help start a new publication or revamp an old one are there for their marquee value only and turn in crap copy. Not here.”